A Long Time Coming
by musicalreader
Summary: When Simon realizes his feelings for jeanette, will he be able to tell her? if she says yes, what will change? and what is going to happen when one of them almost dies? read this and find out. T for violence, language, and some sexuality.
1. FRIENDSHIP

A Long Time Coming part 1

A Story of Life and Love

Friendship

Another week of school was over, much to Simon's dismay. There was a time once that the end of the school day would find all of the Chipmunks and Chipettes meeting at their locker group to discuss their plans for the weekend. Now, however, the final bell found only Simon and Jeanette at their lockers. This was due mainly to the fact that in their freshmen and sophomore years, Alvin and Theo had finally gotten the courage up to ask their love interests in the Chipettes. By now, Alvin and Britney would be at the recording studio arguing over who was more famous, or else making out in the back of Britney's car. Theo and Ellie however, were probably staying after to use the Home Ec room working on a new recipe and talking.

Simon, though a little jealous, thought of his brothers as lucky, they had at least found a girl to be happy with. While as far as he knew, despite his recent stint in the schools weight training class to at least look more appealing, none of the girls in school found him even remotely attractive. When he thought about it, this situation was probably due to his unwillingness to take fashion tips from Alvin and Britney. In fact, the only girls he really hung out with on a regular basis were the Chipettes. Yet even then, the only one of his friends who could really relate to and understand Simon was Jeanette, who at that moment rounded the corner and walked towards him.

"Hey there Simon" said Jeanette unenthusiastically. "Hey there Jeanette, what happened to you today that put you in such a mood?" Simon asked.

"Oh it's nothing"

"Are you sure?" he replied worry slowly creeping up his insides.

"Yeah, besides, if I was going to tell you I certainly wouldn't want to tell you _**here**_." She responded with added venom on the word "here". If Simon didn't know her any better, he could swear that she hated school.

"Well, if you have something bugging you, perhaps we should discuss this in a more private spot?"

"Yeah, I'd really like that Si."

Now Simon knew something big was up with Jeanette. She only ever used his pet name when she was either really excited or really upset. Since she clearly wasn't enthused, he figured he had best approach this situation with care.

By the time they had driven over to the park, Jeanette's mood had at least improved slightly. Simon parked the car and turned the engine off, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye, he saw her looking out the window at a cluster of trees in the distance just outside of the parks boundary line.

"You want to go for a walk?" he offered.

"Yeah that seems like just the sort thing I need to do to cheer up." She said with a shy smile.

As they approached a fork in the path, for the first time Simon noticed an almost undefined dirt road off to the side. "Hey Jeanette." he said.

"Huh" she replied snapping out of a daze.

"Have you ever seen that path before?"

"Well… yeah." She answered with a little confusion in her tone. "Have you already forgotten?" she asked.

"Forgotten what, exactly?" Now it was his turn to be confused.

"That's the path to my sisters and my old tree house, you know, the one we lived in before we were adopted by Miss Miller."

" Really? How come I don't remember that?" he asked.

"Well, when we lived there it was usually only Alvin who came to visit us. Now we both know that he was just trying to spend more time with Britney, but at the time my sisters and I always thought he came over to escape from Dave when he messed up."

"So that's where he always disappeared to", Simon thought to himself. "How come you guys never invited us over? I don't even know what your old home looks like."

"Well, we _did_ invite you over. Several times, in fact", She answered, "But you were always so busy, and besides, I really didn't want you to see how we lived. It would be too embarrassing."

"Why would you be embarrassed to let me see how you guys lived?" Simon asked, slightly hurt.

"Because, if you did, you might have become more stressed out than you already were."

"Were you all living that badly?"

"No, no, nothing like that, I just didn't want you to worry about us is all." Jeanette answered emphatically. "In fact, we were really comfortable where we were."

"Oh, I see…" Simon trailed off sounding hurt. Jeanette looked at him with care in her eyes. They really were beautiful, her eyes. Simon began to wonder to himself why he had never noticed that about her before.

"You have lovely eyes Jeanette" he blurted out, "I've never noticed that before but you really have a lovely shade of jade green eyes"

"Really?" she said while her cheeks began to glow a slight shade of pink. "I've never been told that before. You're not playing a joke on me are you?"

"Joking? Please, no one would joke about that. That would just be too cruel."

"Don't I know it." He heard her mumble.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing, it's just something that happened at school today is all."

"Well, why don't we go to your old home and talk about it."

"You just want to see my old house" she replied bitterly.

"While my curiosity is definitely a part of it, the other half is the fact that there is also a small gang of tough guys checking you out behind us and I think if we have to run, its much better to do it in a place that we have the advantage in."

"Oh!" she said after she looked behind them to see the group that Simon was describing leering at her without even trying to hide their intentions from their expressions. "Maybe you're right about that running thing."

"Care to lead so you have a buffer between them?"

"You really think they would try anything?"

"Not really but better safe than sorry". "Alright" she said as she led him into the woods where the twilight quickly enveloped them in the shadows.

"How did she find her way home in the winter when there was no light after six?" he silently wondered. "Maybe she sees better when she knows where she's going." But that was a question for another day.

"So, what exactly happened at school that has you this upset?"

Jeanette sighed, "Well you know that I'm not the most popular girl at school right?"

"Well I know that other girls don't generally hang around you unless they are trying to scam you into doing their homework for them" he said, "As for popular, I thought you had risen above that. Neither of us is exactly _popular_."

"Well, popular or no, what happened still hurt like hell."

"And I notice you still haven't told me what happened to you. Did someone mess with you about not being popular?"

"They messed with me all right but I wish they had just Said that I wasn't popular. Instead, this ass hole on the basketball team flirted with me all day in our classes in front of everyone until I thought that he was serious and asked if he wanted to hang out and see a movie this Sunday" as she got to this part, she started to tear up and Simon had a pretty good idea about what was coming.

"Don't tell me this douche turned you down." He said with pure hate in his voice.

"If only, instead he starts laughing at the top of his lungs and when he finally calms down, he says that he would… rather have both his legs broken than go out with a…a nerd like m-me." By this point she was crying to the point that her face was flooded with tears.

Simon reached out his arms hesitantly trying to hug Jeanette when she rushed into his embrace and sobbed into his chest. "How dare that fucker hurt his Jeanette" he thought. Wait, "_his Jeanette_"? He had never thought of Jeanette like that, but he had to admit that the idea endeared itself to him somehow. "Was this what his brothers felt for the Chipettes?"

After a while her tears started to subside and the sobs that wracked her body petered out into soft whimpers. Simon had no idea what to do; he had no experience with this sort of thing. The only thing he dared to do was rub his hand up and down her back and try to soothe her. It was now almost completely dark. After Jeanette had calmed down some more, she let go of Simon's shirt and backed up clumsily.

"Sorry about that" she mumbled, "I don't know what came over me."

"No need to apologize" he said, "If it doesn't bother you too much, do you know this jerks name?"

"Yeah" she sniffled, "I know his name. Why do you want to know?"

"No reason" he replied, "I just want to know so my anger at least has a focus"

"Oh Simon, violence never solved anything."

"Maybe not, but I won't be the one getting violent, that will be up to Britney."

"NO!" she yelled, "she'd never understand. She's always been popular and she wouldn't understand why it hurts so much. She's never been rejected." Jeanette sounded almost envious of that last part.

"Well I don't keeping secrets" Simon fumed, "but if you really don't want her to know, then who am I to say otherwise."

"Thank you Simon, thank you so much for understanding" she said, as she hugged him with relief.

"Well, that aside" Simon sputtered, his cheeks now slightly red, "we should save this trip up to your old home for a day when there is more light."

Jeanette stared at him in confusion, her eyes red from crying, until she realized that it was now full dark, and they were in a dead zone for cell phone reception. "Well the poor reception would explain why no one has called us about where we are." Simon remarked.

"Miss Miller must be having a fit about where I am!" Jeanette exclaimed, "And I forgot my phone at home!"

"Don't freak out yet Jeanette, my phone is right here and I have your home number, let's just find a place with reception and I'll make the call. Besides, they probably think that we're at the library or something like that."

"Oh yeah, I remember when we would do that all the time." she said, "Why did we ever stop, we had fun."

"Because, we started to take different classes, remember." Simon explained as the two began to walk back towards the path.

When they finally reached the path, the first thing that Simon did was look for the thugs he saw earlier. Luckily, they were nowhere to be seen and Simon felt it was safe to proceed. When they reached his car Simon pulled out his phone, relieved to see that he had a few bars and called Jeanettes home first. It took a couple of rings but finally someone answered.

"Hello?" the other person said, Simon recognized the voice as Ellie.

"Hey Eleanor, its Simon, Is Miss Miller there?"

"Oh thank God it's you Simon, is Jeanie there?" Eleanor asked with obvious concern in her voice.

"Yeah, she's here and she's fine, we just got a little lost in the park is all." He replied.

"Oh, thank god, we were watching the news and this gang of thugs were arrested near the park and we were worried when we couldn't get a hold of either of you two."

Simon decided not to mention the fact that he thought they had seen the very thugs in the park just a couple hours ago. "Yeah Eleanor we're both fine and I'm driving Jeanette home to you guys now. Let Miss Miller know, alright?"

"Alright then Simon, see you later, bye."

"Bye." He said as he hung up.

"Well now that that's sorted out, what do you say we get you home?"

"Alright" Jeanette said with a smile.

As they drove to her house, they talked about other things that had happened at school that week including, Jeanettes new outfit that Britney had helped her pick out, Simon's latest award in science, and Jeanettes story she was working on. The story had been her pet project throughout middle school and had all but been forgotten by her in high school until just that year. Nevertheless, she found the words just as easy to write as ever. Simon really did like that about her, despite her admitted clumsiness which had been her trademark in middle school and freshmen year; she really had a way with the written word. And as her best friend Simon had the pleasure to proofread all of her stories before anyone on the web had the chance to criticize, though criticism was rare, in fact, he had only ever heard of 1 negative review, and that had been a prank of Alvin's. Now that he thought about it, he also realized just how much Jeanette had changed since they first met. Instead of clumsiness, he now only saw her walk with a certain grace that other girls would have envied surely. And despite what her loose clothes hinted at, Simon remembered last summer when he had seen Jeanette in a bikini; she really had a perfect figure, nice flat stomach, supple curves, and perfectly proportioned features. "Maybe" he thought to himself, "the reason I was angry at that basketball player is because I was protective". "But protective of what, his best friend certainly, but perhaps him and Jeanette could be more than friends?"

So for the last half of the ride, while Jeanette talked about her classes, Simon planned how best to bring up the thought that had entered his mind and refused to leave.

"So what do you think Simon?"

"What?" he said, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Do you think that I should help Melissa with her English project or not?"

Crap, he had no idea who Melissa was but decided to wing it. "Honestly, I don't think you should help her face to face. Instead, have her email you what she already has written and just critique her work. That way she learns and you help without doing all of the work."

"That_ is_ a great idea Simon" Jeanette exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that? You really are a great friend."

"Perhaps more than just friend?" Simon blurted out before he could stop himself. Almost immediately after he thought, "SHIT!!! Why did I say that out loud?!?!" while he cussed himself out inside his head, Jeanette sat in silence letting those 5 words wash over her. As she sat and thought a faint color rose in her cheeks and the thought of Simon and her together made her heart race faster than anything ever had.

When he pulled up to Jeanettes house, she got out almost as soon as the car stopped, and walked up the steps to her home slowly. Seeing this as a hint to ask her out, Simon rushed after her until he caught her on the steps of her porch.

"Jeanette, would you maybe want to go out with me on a date this weekend?" he asked praying that she would say yes.

"Simon," she began, "so much has happened to me today that I really just need some space to breathe, sorry but no. I mean, you're a great guy and an awesome friend but I really just don't want to mess up the one thing that's right in this world for me." Simon hung his head and mumbled out "Sorry."

"I'm really sorry Si. Goodnight." With that she hugged him, a hug he did not return, and went inside.

When Simon got home he went up to his room, his brothers having long ago taken up different rooms, laid down on the bed and cried as he thought of Jeanette.

TO BE CONTINUED IN:  
A LONG TIME COMING PART 2

REALIZATION


	2. REALIZATION

A Long Time Coming part 2

A story of life and love

Realization

When Jeanette got inside of her home, she was greeted by the angry reprimands of her adoptive mother Miss Miller.

"And just what do you think you're doing waltzing in here at this hour of the night as if butter wouldn't melt in your mouth?" she said angrily, "if it weren't for the fact that I have never had a single incident from you, you would be up in your room with nothing to eat for dinner except a piece of bread and a glass of water for all the grief you caused tonight. Do you realize how scared I was when I tried to call you and you couldn't answer!?"

"I'm sorry Miss Miller." Jeanette said, tearing up slightly, "I really didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry"

After hearing her daughter's apology and seeing the tears in her eyes, Miss Miller's anger turned to concern. What had happened to make her sad?

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry that I yelled at you, I didn't mean it, I was just scared about your safety. Please dear, tell me what's wrong."

"Well," Jeanette started, "it all started in school today…" as she proceeded to tell her mother about the day's events, her sisters came in and listened. As her story drew to a close with her rejection of Simon, Jeanette began to wonder if Simon had felt the same way she had when she had been rejected by that jock.

After a tense minute of total silence, Jeanette excused herself to her room where she locked the door and began to cry again.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself between sobs, "wasn't I always dropping hints to Simon to ask me out. Didn't I always imagine him and me as the characters in the stories?"

But the only answer she ever got was silence from the walls around her. Suddenly there came a knock at the door. From the other side she heard her younger sister say, "Jeanie? Are you ok in there? Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Come on in Ellie" she said, "and close the door please."

Eleanor sat on the edge of Jeanette's bed and sighed. "You know," she began, "guys have feelings too. Even the smart ones who don't seem bothered by anything can feel the sting of being shot down or not even given a chance."

"Yeah, I know that Ellie, I just don't want to be hurt and lose a friend."

"Well you know, no one likes to be hurt this way, and as for losing a friend, if you're not careful, you've already lost one."

As Eleanor said those last words, for the first time, Jeanette felt she could really appreciate what she had put Simon through. Just because what had happened to her had hurt her, she had no right to hurt a sweet boy like Simon. After all he had felt more than his fair share of anger at that jerk for hurting her, did she really have the right to reward those kind actions with caution and scorn. As she thought these things over, Eleanor got up and walked over to Jeanette's desk. For the first time, Ellie really noticed how close Jeanette and Simon were. While there were three or four pictures of the Chipmunks as a group, there were even more of just Simon; or pictures of the whole gang with Simon holding Jeanette at his side.

"Hey Jeanette, did you ever notice that you have a _**lot **_of pictures up here of just Simon?"

"Now that you mention it, I have had a bit of a thing for him for a while." Jeanette replied, trying not to tell her sister just how deep her affections for him were.

"It seems to me," Ellie started, "that your heart has known you like him even before you realized it."

"Yeah I guess you're right. But what do I do? I totally shattered him when I said no, Ellie you didn't see his face when I turned him down. By now he'll be at home and hurt so bad he'll never want to speak to me let alone listen to an apology." Jeanette said, panic rising with each word, "Eleanor, you have Theodore's number on your cell phone, right?"

"Yeah I do." Eleanor replied.

"Well then why don't you call and find out what happened when he got home. If he's able to I'll talk to him, but I really don't want to make anything worse."

"Well, ok, but I really hope you have a good apology ready."

As Eleanor typed in the number, Jeanette prayed that Simon hadn't gone out and done something drastic. Finally Theodore picked up his phone and said, "Hey Ellie! Is something wrong? You don't really call this late unless it's a new recipe or an emergency."

"Yeah Theo I know, but this time it's kind of an emergency. Listen, is Simon at your house right now?" she asked

"Yeah he showed up here about an hour ago and walked right past me, Alvin, and Dave. Is something the matter we should know about?"

"Yeah, listen I need you to go up to Simon's room and stay quiet, now when you reach the door listen and see if he's ok."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, but finally Theodore was back and said, "Simon's not making any sounds in his room, so I went in and found him asleep. But the weird thing is, it looks like he actually cried himself to sleep. What happened this afternoon to make Simon cry at all?"

As the girls heard this report, Jeanette suddenly felt horrible for what she had done to Simon. She grabbed the phone out of her sister's hand and said, "Listen Theo, I need you to help me out, go back to Simon's room and put the phone on speaker and slide it under the door so I can wake Simon up and have a private conversation."

"Well, that sounds really weird but ok Jeanette, just please be careful, you obviously know more about why he's like this than I do but please try and help him."

"I will Theodore, I will." I hope, she said to herself.

A few seconds later she heard the buzz from the receiver on Theo's phone sliding under Simon's door. She took a few deep calming breaths and spoke hesitantly. "Simon? Si, are you there?"

In Simon's dream, he was in a large field deep in the woods, he had no idea what he was doing there but when he tried to get up and move around, the grass came up and twined itself around him until he could move no more. When the grass had him pinned to the ground, he saw a shape in the trees, as he watched, unable to call for help; he saw the shape coming towards the meadow. He tried yet again to call out a warning to the stranger in the woods that the field was dangerous, but the grass was practically strangling him. Yet as he shadow drew nearer, he began to make out familiar things about the stranger.

The first thing that he noticed about the person was that it was in fact a woman, a young woman, in fact. Even in his state of helplessness, he could not help but admire her beauty, the sheen of her hair, the grace of her stride, and lastly the color of her eyes. Oh those eyes; like the finest jade plucked from the very deepest recesses of the earth. In fact, they reminded him of another girl, but it couldn't be. Could it? And sure enough, it was, it was Jeanette, Jeanette running towards the deadly field. Simon had to stop her. He had to save her. With a burst of effort that left him seeing spots, he ripped the treacherous grass by its roots and took off full sprint for the shape he now recognized as the girl he loved.

When he reached the shelter of the trees, he turned in every direction, yet none found him Jeanette. tired and beaten he headed deeper into the woods trying to find a way out of this madness, after what seemed to him an eon of walking, he saw a house in the distance; a house, interestingly enough, built into the trunk of a great redwood. Now he recognized it as the house the Chipettes used to live in, he remembered an old picture that Alvin had showed him once of him and Britney outside of this very home. Simon approached carefully, and just as he was about to reach the door, he heard a twig snap. Startled, he turned around to find himself face to face with Jeanette. relief overtook him for an instant when all of a sudden, he heard another sound, a sound like a million groans mixed with a horrendous crackle the same as a cannon. The next thing he knows, he's trapped again, but this time his captor is the tree itself. The gnarled, twisted branches bind him foot to face with the only gap being directly over the center of his chest. "Jeanette" he croaks out from between clenched teeth, "help me, _**please**_!"

Jeanette smiled coyly at him and replied "No."

Horror filled Simon's heart as he realized that the voice that came from her mouth was not hers, instead it was as if the words had come a demon straight from hell.

And as this realization dawned on him, the demon that paraded around in Jeanettes form reached out towards him and pierced his chest.

"!!!!!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

When the pain began to subside, he saw through the slits of his eyelids that the demoness held his heart in her clawed hands.

"Well Simon, didn't you offer me your heart?"

"My heart belongs to one person and she's already broken it." He replied with defeat in his voice.

Suddenly, there came a whisper on the wind, "Simon" it called. "Simon, please wake up, please" the voice pleaded. Simon knew that voice; that was the voice of Jeanette. Suddenly his situation made sense. "This is all just a dream" he said, "All just a dream"

"Then wake up, you weakling, wake up if you can."

"SIMON" the voice yelled as he opened his eyes.

He stared around his room in confusion for a few seconds until he heard the voice again. "Simon?" the voice asked, "Are you there, can you hear me?"

Simon picked up the phone and said with venom dripping in every syllable, "Yeah I can hear you Jeanette."

At first Jeanette was relieved that he had answered the phone, but when she heard his voice, the sound of pure anger was evident in his every word. "Simon," she began, but was cut off by the very person she had tried to console.

"No, no, you don't speak to me until I've had my say." He barked into the phone, "I understand that that ass-hole hurt you, and at first I was sympathetic, but what you did was so cold, I don't even think it was you saying those words."

"Si," Jeanette started, beginning to tear up again on her end of the line.

"What was that bullshit about wanting to not ruin our friendship? If you gave me a chance, you might like it better, being more than friends." Simon said, beginning to calm down a little.

"SIMON!" Jeanette yelled.

"WHAT?!"

"I called to explain about what happened, and if I didn't care about you, do you think I would sit here and listen to you vent on me?"

This question startled Simon to the point that he totally forgot why he was mad for a minute.

"Wha…you…me…What are you saying Jeanette?"

Jeanette giggled a little at the fact that she had actually made him stutter. Usually it was the other way around; Jeanette was the one who got tongue tied in front of Simon.

"What I'm saying is that I want to talk to you about what happened." She replied.

"Well, what about what happened? Seems kind of cut and dry to me, I like you but you don't seem to feel the same way about me."

"That's not true Simon. I really like you, the only reason that I acted the way I did was because I was hurting and I made a stupid mistake by not telling you the truth. I have always liked you Simon Seville, I just didn't want to endanger our friendship by moving beyond. I wanted to play it safe."

Simon sat in stunned silence. Listening with rapt attention, not daring to believe what he was hearing but at the same time also afraid to even think that this was all a dream.

"Simon?" Jeanette asked, concern obvious in her voice, "Are you there?"

Simon snapped out of his daze and replied, "Yeah I'm here. Please keep going." Those last words sounding almost needy when he spoke them.

"Well, Simon, I was thinking, why not take a little risk? I'm free on Sunday if you want to do anything." Jeanette was glad that she was talking like this over the phone, there was no way she would be able to say this to Simon's face without turning flaming red.

"Uhhh…" Simon croaked out, too stunned to form a coherent sentence.

"Should I take that as a yes?" she asked trying her best to sound innocent while hiding the joy she felt inside at the realization that she had just asked the boy of her dreams out.

"Uhh…wel…YEAH!" He practically yelled into the phone he was so excited. Fumbling to recover, he said, "What time should I pick you up Jeannie?"

Now it was her turn to be flustered, the mention of her pet name was almost too much. "Well," she began, "tomorrow, I'll have to talk to Miss Miller, but I'm pretty sure that she'll say yes to about five-ish if you want to go get dinner first."

"Dinner with you sounds great." Simon replied, "So I guess I'll see you Sunday?"

"Definitely, and Simon, I'm really sorry about earlier."

"That's alright Jeanette, you did what you felt was right."

"Well, bye then." Jeanette said eager to hang up and share the news.

"Yeah, see you Sunday." Simon replied, still stunned, but also eager to share the news.

And with that they both hung up and ran off to tell their families.

Jeanette's family wasn't surprised that they were going out on Sunday. In fact, Jeanette found out that at the beginning of the year, Britney had set up a pool for who would ask who out. Now came the difficult part for Jeanette.

"Hey Britney," Jeanette started hesitantly, "is there any way…"

"…that you can help me get ready for Sunday Alvin." asked Simon.

"Well, since you did help me pass that last algebra test, I guess I do owe you huh?"

Simon was relieved, "Yeah you really do. I don't need a total overhaul though; I just need your help to decide what to wear. And there's also one other thing I need your help with."

"Oh," Alvin replied, surprise clearly written on his face, Simon had_** never**_ asked for his help before, and now two times in one night. This was turning out to be an interesting weekend.

"Alright Si, what do you need?"

Simon took a breath and said, "I need you to give me some directions."

"But Britney!!!" whined Jeanette, after seeing what her sister had picked out for her to wear, "I don't want to look like a tart, and you _**know**_ I can't walk well in heels."

"Be _**quiet**_ Jeanette, you asked for my help getting ready and that's what I'm going to do whether you _**like**_ it or _**not**_!" Britney said exasperated at how much her little sister squirmed. Well little was a relative term. After all, technically all three of the sisters were in the same grade and they were triplets, Britney just happened to be the one to be born five minutes before Jeanette.

"Besides," continued Britney, "That dress really accentuates your figure."

"My curves you mean." Muttered Jeanette under her breath. SMACK!

"OWE!! That hurt like_** hell**_ Brit."

"Next time you have a problem with my decisions don't mumble. It's rude!" Britney said somewhat condescendingly.

"And yes," Britney continued, "it really does flatter your curves; you wouldn't feel self conscious if you wore clothes that fit you instead of that shapeless smock you call a sweater all the damn time."

"Do you really think I have a good figure?" asked Jeanette.

"Sweetie, there are girls who would kill for your shape." And it was true, while Jeanette wasn't particularly large in the TNA department; she nonetheless had an undeniably luscious form that would make most grown men stare in awe. This effect was brought on by her slender frame and height. Jeanette had always been a little taller than most of the girls, and even some of the guys! Nonetheless, Simon still towered over her by at least half a foot. Jeanette always felt a bit of relief at the fact that she wasn't the tallest, and it was always funny to see Simon play keep-away with Britney and Alvin.

"Hello, earth to Jeanie!" Britney yelled while waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" Jeanette replied stunned.

"I said, what are you going to be wearing under the dress?" Britney asked in a huff.

"What do you mean?" Jeanette shot back, obviously confused.

"I mean what kind of underwear are you going to be wearing, _**duh**_?"

Jeanette's cheeks flared bright scarlet for a second as she thought out the implications of that question. Britney didn't really expect Simon to be that forthcoming on the first date, did she?

"What do you need to know that for?" she asked obviously flustered.

"I need to know so that I can make sure there are no lines showing when you put on the dress. Besides," she added, "even if Simon won't see them you can still feel sexy." Her sister replied with a mischievous grin.

SUNDAY NIGHT

"Simon! You need to hurry up or you'll be late!" Dave yelled from the living room.

"Alright dad, I'm hurrying." Simon yelled back.

"Jeez, you'd think the fate of the world is at stake here." He thought to himself. Well, if it didn't go well tonight, it would be the end of _**his**_ world.

All of a sudden, Alvin burst into Simon's room to find him half dressed in the casual suit he wore to the science fairs. Alvin had to admit that it really suited his brother. After he finally recovered his breath he said, "Ok dude, the lights are all in place, and your car has a full tank of gas."

"Thanks Al, I really owe you one if this all works out."

"Hey no problem Si, let's just call it even in exchange for you deleting all of the records of the pranks I pulled at school last year."

"Already done bro. Videos deleted and all."

Alvin sighed, relieved; now he was off the hook with the school. Now it was time for little help from the _**love**_ doctor.

"Hey Si," he began innocently, "you really like Jeanette don't you?"

"Obviously, why else would I be going through all this trouble to make it a fantastic night?"

"Well, here's a little something from me in case this night turns out to be _**extra**_ special."

So saying he pressed a metallic packet into Simon's hand and bolted for the door.

When Simon looked down at what it was he was surprised to find that it was in fact a Trojan. His face turned bright red when the thought of being able to use it with Jeanette popped into his head. He quickly shoved the image aside and continued to dress, thought not being so forgetful as to not put the packet in his inside jacket pocket.

Ten minutes later, Simon arrived at the front porch of the Millers home to be greeted by none other than his old babysitter.

"Why hello there Simon, my don't you look handsome. Much spiffier than when Alvin came to pick up Britney, he had the nerve to show up her in jeans and a t-shirt."

"MOM!" Britney cut in, "you _**know**_ he only dressed like that because he took me to the U2 concert!"

"Yes dear I know, but that's still no excuse to not look presentable."

"Uh, excuse me Miss Miller," Simon interrupted, "but can I come in and wait for Jeanette in your living room? It's kind of cool out."

"Oh why if course, of course dear, come on in." she replied opening the door wide for him.

Simon stepped into the familiar house. He had spent almost as much time in here than he had in his own home. As he sat down on the couch facing the bottom of the stairs, Eleanor walked in and sat down across from him.

"Hi Simon!" she exclaimed happily, "Jeanette will be right down, "Britney's just helping her put the finishing touches on her makeup."

"No problem, there's no rush at all." Simon replied.

"Britney, is he here yet?" Jeanette asked impatiently.

"Yes, he's here now, I have Ellie stalling him in the living room. Now get over here and let me fix you up." Brit replied hastily.

"Well hurry up and finish. I want to go see him."

"Ok, ok, there you're done." Britney replied as she dabbed the last bit of her makeup on. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to say thank you." She finished with a pout in her voice.

"Oh Britney, you know I'll always owe you for this. You _**are**_ my big sister after all."Jeanette answered as she hugged her sister.

"Yeah yeah, now get out of here and go have a good time with prince charming; and Jeanette,"

"Yes?" she answered hesitantly.

"When you're out having a good time, try not to be careless."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if it goes past second base, make sure he has protection." She replied with a mischievous wink.

"_**Britney**_!" Jeanette squealed with surprise, "I trust Simon to respect me more than that."

"Okay, whatever you say sis." Britney retorted with a giggle.

As Simon sat in the living room and talked to Eleanor his mind kept wandering to what was in store for Jeanette tonight. He really hoped that she would appreciate the work he had done all yesterday to get her surprise in order. As he sat there mulling over the best way to introduce her to what he had done, he spotted a sliver of dark purple approaching the bottom of the stairs. By the time he realized that the vision of beauty in front of him was his date, he was stricken dumb for a full minute, captured as he was by the perfection that stood in front of him. After all, his stomach flipped when she was in front of him on a normal day, but if it was possible to improve on perfection, then he had just seen it.

"Damn." He said before he could stop himself, "Jeanette you look stunning."

Jeanette blushed at this compliment and giggled a little bit as she realized just how smitten he was. Surely she didn't look that different, and the dress wasn't even that expensive, it was a simple strapless dark purple dress with a slit running about three inches up the thigh. Though the dress made her feel a little exposed, it pleased her to no end to see the effect she had on a boy as intelligent as Simon.

"Thank you, you look pretty nice yourself there Simon." she replied, still smiling.

"Now Simon," Miss Miller cut in, "I want there to be some ground rules when you're taking my daughter out tonight. Rule number 1: I want her home tonight no later than 11:30 understood. I don't care that you kids don't have school tomorrow I want her home and safe by 11:30."

"Yes ma'am, I understand completely." Simon answered, not mentioning the fact that he had planned to have her home by 10.

"Rule number 2," she continued while the girls sat in the corner laughing at the whole situation, "if my daughter comes home drunk or on drugs, I will personally see to it that you are never welcome in this house ever again."

"No problems there" Simon thought to himself, and nodded.

"Other than that, I want you two to go out and enjoy yourselves, you are after all legal adults soon and I trust you to use your better judgment." And with that her expression morphed from that of the stern matriarch to one with a soft kind smile.

"Well if that's all, Jeanette are you ready to go?" he asked looking over to the vision of beauty that sat on the couch across from him.

"Yes I am." She replied with a slight blush to her cheeks.

"Then we should go before the movie starts."

And with that they were out the door and in his car driving off for their first date.

"Oh Simon, that movie was _**wonderful**_!" Jeanette gushed.

Simon was glad that she enjoyed herself. He had found the movie far less interesting than watching her face as all of the scenes seemed to elicit a new emotion.

"The way the director showed the raw emotion of the natives was absolutely breathtaking!" she continued.

"Yes, I had hoped that you would enjoy Avatar."

"Are you _kidding_, I loved it!" (And the movie was even better since I shared it with you.) she thought to herself.

"Well the nights not over yet my dear. There is still one more thing to do before I can let you go home." Simon said coyly.

"Oh Simon, you _know_ I hate surprises." Jeanette whined half-heartedly.

"Well I can personally guarantee that you will love this surprise."

"And if I don't _absolutely love_ it? Then what happens?" she asked innocently.

"Then I owe you one." He responded jokingly.

"Fine, but you better hope this is really something." She said pretending to pout.

"Ah, here we are." Simon said as they pulled up to the park.

"Simon, what are you doing?" Jeanette asked as Simon reached in the back seat for a piece of cloth.

"Well I can't exactly have you see the surprise before its ready, now can I?" Simon replied cagily with a mischievous grin.

"Ok then, but at least let me change shoes first, I can't hardly walk in these things when I can see where I'm going." Jeanette explained as she reached for her backpack where she kept an extra set of sneakers.

After Jeanette had changed shoes and gotten out of the car, Simon came up behind her and tied the blindfold around her eyes.

"Now Jeanette, what I need you to do is grab my shoulders and follow me closely, I'll tell you if there is a drop."

"Ok" she replied as she grabbed his shoulders and pressed herself into his back to the point that he could feel her curves and her heart beat as if it was inside of his chest.

When Simon felt Jeanette at his back, he let out an involuntary shudder at the warmth she seemed to radiate. Regaining his composure, he began to walk her slowly towards the path Alvin had helped him hang the lights in. As they headed into the depths of the park, neither of them noticed another set of eyes peering out of the bushes, but these were not the eyes of an animal, no these were the eyes of a monster hungry for pleasure and the need to cause pain.

TO BE CONTINUED IN

A LONG TIME COMING

Part 3

Arrival

Coming soon


	3. ARRIVAL

**A Long Time Coming**

**Part III**

**Arrival**

As Simon continued to lead Jeanette deeper into the forest, he slowly became aware of a feeling at the base of his skull. The only time he had felt a similar pressure was when the Wolfman had kept tabs on them after he bit Theodore all those years ago. Now he recognized the feeling, it was the sense that he was being watched. He wouldn't have minded if it weren't for the fact that Jeanette was incapable of seeing anything, let alone _**him**_ right now. That could only mean that whoever it was wasn't friendly, or else he felt that they would have revealed themselves by now.

"Simon, are we almost there, it feels like we've been walking for almost an hour." Jeanette said, snapping Simon out of his daze.

"Almost there Jeannie." He replied, his mind only half on the response.

Jeanette blushed when he said "Jeannie", with her family it was a normal greeting, but with Simon saying it, it almost sounded _naughty_.

"Alright Jeanette, you can take off the blindfold now." Simon said as he stopped suddenly.

When Jeanette took off the piece of cloth, she couldn't believe her eyes. It was _**beautiful**_!

"Well, what do you think?" Simon asked, innocently, as if what he had done was anything short of a miracle.

"I can't believe you actually found and fixed up my old home!" Jeanette squealed, tears of joy starting to form in the corner of her eyes.

It was true that it had taken Simon a significant amount of money to buy the supplies and bribe Alvin and Theodore to help him fix up the Chipettes old tree house. But Simon felt that it was a Saturday well spent. Especially after seeing Jeanettes ecstatic reaction to what he had done. But the surprise didn't end there.

"Go and head in," Simon urged, holding the door open for her to duck into, "we didn't just fix up the outside you know."

"Are you kidding me?!" Jeanette squeaked when she saw the interior all clean and tidy, everything as it was when she had lived here all those years ago. It was as if the whole place had been pulled out of a picture.

"Oh, Simon," she whispered as she saw that the repairs and renovations had extended to filling in the picture frames, that had once held nothing, with pictures from the Chipmunks and Chipettes past all the way through that years senior pictures.

"How… when… why did you do this?" was all she could strangle out she was so stunned with the transformation of the tree house that had just last week been dead and lifeless on the inside.

"Well, it took a lot of convincing on my part to get Alvin involved, but with Theodore's help and some old pictures of Alvin's, I think we got it to what it used to look like. You didn't get a chance to see, but on the trail, we even put up some lights." Simon answered in his matter of fact way.

"Simon, I can't tell you what this all means to me. I can't tell you how happy I am to see my old house alive again." And with that, she rushed the stunned Chipmunk and hugged him so tight that the breath was knocked out of him for a minute. When he regained his senses, he embraced his Jeanette in an embrace of pure love.

When Jeanette felt his arms around her, she felt totally at peace with the world, as if everything was going to be perfect forever. And with that feeling came a new realization. She didn't _**just**_ like Simon; she finally understood that this feeling that was always making her shy in front of him and this sense of total loyalty was _**Love. **_And with that she looked up into his eyes and said, "I love you Simon."

"I love you too Jeanette, I always have, from the first moment that I laid eyes on you, I wanted you to be mine." And with that he leaned down and closed his eyes as their lips met.

Jeanette had never felt a sensation like this; Simon's kiss was gentle yet firm, as if he didn't want to be refused. Not that he had any reason to be worried about rejection. With that thought Jeanette deepened the kiss, pushing back firmly yet at the same time remaining velvety soft. As the kiss lengthened, her lips opened to let him in deeper. When Simon felt her open, he slowly slipped his tongue out of his mouth to taste her. When the kiss broke, both of them were gasping for breath.

"Maybe we should continue this on the couch?" Jeanette hinted.

Sensing that she was getting tired of being on her feet, Simon simply nodded, still unable to form a coherent sentence. And with that nod, he led Jeanette over to the couch and sat down, where they promptly continued where they had left off.

As the creature outside waited patiently to come out of their den, he couldn't help but notice that the place they had disappeared into looked habitable. Since he would need a place to lay low for a while after tonight, he decided to kill time thinking of how to hide the path better and where to ditch the lamps that lit up the trail like a neon sign saying "here I am, come get me!"

After a while, the beast checked his watch, his prey had hid out for a good hour already. "Well, if they won't come to me, I'll have to go to them." He said to himself. But as soon as the thought appeared in his head, his prey finally reappeared. He noted that their clothes were a little more disheveled than when they had gone in. "This is going to be fun" he said to no one in particular, but still quiet enough that no one would hear him.

When Simon was able to find his feet, he noticed that the wall clock had moved ahead an hour. If he wasn't careful, Jeanette would be late getting home. She only had a half hour left until Miss Miller blew a gasket waiting for her.

"Jeannie," Simon said, "I think we need to start heading back to the car, remember how long it took us to get down here from the car?"

"Oh shit you're right." she said disappointedly, "and I was hoping we could stay here."

"So was I" Simon replied, "but to be honest, if we had kept making out, I would have lost all self control."

Jeanette blushed when she heard that then said, "What if I wanted you to lose control?"

At that, Simon let out a groan, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in for another passionate kiss. When they pulled away he said, "Another day and another time my dear, right now, my priority is to see you get home safe and unspoiled."

Jeanette giggled and blushed, "my knight in shining armor!" she teased. "Someday though, she thought to herself," I will have him and that will really be the perfect day"

As they left the tree house and turned off the lights, Jeanette took one last look at her home. Simon really had done a spectacular job with the repairs.

As Simon led the way back to the parking lot, he again had that feeling that they were being followed and watched. Knowing that twice was too much to be a coincidence he surreptitiously asked Jeanette , "Hey Jeanette, do you feel like you're being watched as well?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah." She answered cautiously, picking up on the slight worry to his voice.

"Damn, I was hoping that it was just me." He was definitely getting spooked now.

"Ok" he whispered, "you have your sneakers on, right?"

"Yeah, I still have them on."

"Good, now, when I say run, I need you to bolt as fast as you can and when you get to the car, get in and lock the doors until I show up." He whispered.

"What about you?" she asked concern thick on her voice.

"You're the fastest runner in our class besides Eleanor and you know this path. If you're safe, then that's one less thing I have to worry about if whatever's following us decides to do something" he answered quickly.

Again Jeanette was amazed at how methodical and thorough Simon was when he thought of something. "Alright, but I'll need the keys to open the car." She concluded

"Here," he said as he gave her the spare in his pocket, "now run"

And just like they planned she bolted.

At first the creature was surprised that one of his preys was running away, and then he realized that they were smarter than they looked. They must have somehow known that he was there watching them. When he looked again, the remaining one had stopped in his tracks and was listening, trying to remain as still and as quiet as possible the creature waited patiently. When the male continued to walk back to the park, he knew he had avoided detection. All was now right in the creatures world. Besides, he mused to himself, he had followed them since they had arrived in his territory and knew that they would leave together, all he had to do was take this one when he reached his car and then they would both be his to do with as he pleased.

When Simon stopped on the trail, he perked up his ears and listened for any hint of an animal or pursuer. When he heard nothing, he was convinced that it was just him being paranoid.

"This is what comes of years trying to dodge Alvin's pranks" he told himself.

Though he kept telling himself that it was all in his head, he was still glad that Jeanette had headed up to the car, by his estimations, she would be safely in the car if in fact anything did happen. When he started to walk again, he made sure to pick up the pace, just to be on the safe side.

All of a sudden, Simon heard a twig snap right behind him and turned around to stare into the black lifeless depths of the eyes of the creature. As he was about to scream for help, the creature held the shiny metallic barrel of a pistol to his temple and said,

"Make a sound and I will blow your brains all over the forest mate."

Simon thought that the beast looked familiar, until he realized that the face he was looking at was a mask, but he definitely remembered the voice. This man was one of the punks that Jeanette and he had seen in the park just that Friday. This was the leader of the group that had leered at his Jeanette.

"_**Hey**_!" the punk yelled at him, "do you understand or do I have to actually kill you?"

All that Simon could do was make a slow nodding motion with his head and pray that Jeanette had reached the car without meeting any of the thugs friends they had seen just a couple days ago.

By the time Jeanette reached the car, she had been running for a full minute, if it wasn't for the lights that Simon had put up, she probably would have fallen and busted her face on the ground. As she waited for Simon to come out of the woods, she tried to remember what it was that she had felt on the path watching them. Finally she gave up, not having words to go with the feeling that had passed over her as she ran away from the path towards the car, and decided to turn on the radio. After about four songs she began to get worried that something had happened to Simon. Almost as soon as she got out of the car and run back to check on him, she saw a shadow at the edge of the park. When it came into view, she realized it was Simon and breathed a sigh of relief, until she saw the look of fear on his face, and the shadow behind him.

"Get out of the car slowly." The shadow said its voice thick with malice.

"_**No**_! Jeanette, don…" as Simon struggled to speak, the shadow smashed the butt end of a pistol down on top of his head.

"I told your little boyfriend not to speak. Apparently he's a little hard of hearing."

"Simon!" Jeanette screamed in horror, "What have you done?!"

"Please, wake up Simon" she thought as loud as she could.

As he stepped over Simon's crumpled form he spoke "Oh, I just gave him a little break from being awake. By the time he wakes up, you'll have other things to worry about than _**his**_ well being." The thug said this with an evil sneer as he looked Jeanette up and down.

"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked now fearing for her life.

"What I _mean_, you little bitch, is that I intend to take you, and then if you're lucky, I'll kill you and put you out of your misery."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked the thug.

"Because I saw you in the park the other day and decided that you looked like a good screw, whether you said yes or not." The thug answered with a wicked smile that would have the devil crying for mercy.

As he said these last words, he began to advance on Jeanette, clearly done with the questions and now ready to follow through on his threats. As he got within inches of Jeanette with the gun trained on the center of her chest, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a flicker of motion. When the beast decided that he was done playing with his prey, he reached out with his free hand and dragged her to him, as she squirmed to try and get free of his vice like grip, he laughed.

On the way back from the trail, the punk known as SlayR had filled him in on just what he had in store for his girlfriend. Needless to say, Simon would rather die than live to see Jeanette put through the perversions that this twisted mind had come up with. First though, Simon had to try to warn Jeanette to run like hell and leave him, for her own safety. The only thing he had seemed to forget was the fact that SlayR had a gun, a _**really**_ heavy gun, as it turned out. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in the back of his skull.

The only sensation that enveloped him was a sense of falling, falling deep into a bottomless pit. Then out of nowhere, there appeared a light, and from this pinprick came a voice, a voice that said, "Simon, you have to wake up now, you are not yet done with your life." The voice seemed familiar, like a thousand seraphim in exaltation and at the same time all too familiar, then the voice spoke again, "Simon, please, wake up, I need you." And _**this**_ voice he knew. This voice was Jeanettes crying out for help. He had to go back.

When Simon opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he was now to SlayR's back, _**this**_ he could definitely use. Then he saw what SlayR was doing and the urge to seek total revenge began to seep up Simon's throat. "Calm down," he told himself, "One wrong move and you're not in a position to help _**anyone**_"

As silently as he could possibly move while keeping his balance, he slowly advanced on SlayR and heard

"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked.

"What I _mean_, you little bitch, is that I intend to fuck you, and then if you're lucky, I'll kill you and put you out of your misery."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked SlayR.

"Because I saw you in the park the other day and decided that you looked like a good screw, whether you said yes or not."

Simon was about to lose his self control and get himself shot when SlayR grabbed Jeanette and pulled her close to him to try and do God knows what. When she tried to resist, Simon saw SlayR pull back his lip in a snarl and bite her on the neck. When he heard Jeanettes scream at the obviously painful assault, he yelled and rushed SlayR.

"What the fuck!?" SlayR yelled in shock. In the instant that Simon had yelled, SlayR's grip slackened enough to let Jeanette twist out of his reach and run to the other side of the car. When Simon saw that she was safe, he charged SlayR, who was still watching Jeanette run away, angry that his prey had escaped him he turned around and fired the gun wildly in Simon's direction.

"I'll fucking kill you worm!" he bellowed as Simon ducked and came up in SlayR's reach. Before he could shorten his sight and fire again, Simon grabbed his wrist and twisted causing SlayR to release the gun. As it clattered to the ground and SlayR stood there stunned that this kid was faster and stronger than he looked, Simon grabbed his head, jumped into the air, and kneed him full on in the center of his forehead.

As SlayR fell to the ground unconscious, Simon made a mad dash for the car. When he got inside, he made sure to reverse over SlayR's legs, then put it in drive and peeled out of the park.

"Jeanette, are you ok?" Simon asked, adrenaline still flowing heavy through his veins.

"Yeah, I'm alright, the worst I got was that bite and being scared out of my wits." She replied trying to make light of the whole ordeal, "What about you Simon, I thought you had been hit when he shot at you?"

"Nah, if I was hit I would have felt it I'm sure." He answered while rotating his shoulder.

But when Jeanette turned on the cars light to find her phone and call the police, she noticed a spot of red on his shirt.

"Simon, I think, oh my _**God**_ you _**did**_ get shot!"

"Shit," Simon hissed out as the adrenaline wore off and he regained feeling in his limbs. He pulled off of the road outside a house and tore off his jacket, sure enough, right in the center of his shoulder; he saw a ragged hole in his shirt that was gradually seeping red. Just before he blacked out again, he remembered saying, "At least you're alright."

By the time the ambulance showed up to carry off Simon and the cops had taken Jeanettes story down, she had called the Sevilles as well as her family. Alvin and Dave went immediately to the hospital where they had taken Simon, and Theodore agreed to walk over to where Jeanette was and drive her home in Simon's car.

"Oh my GOD, Jeanette, we're so glad you're alright. Please dear come in and tell us what happened."

By the time Jeanette struggled through what had happened for the third time that night, skipping over the part about the surprise, all of her family had surrounded her in a hug almost as warm as Simon's.

"Mom?" Jeanette started.

"Yes dear?" Miss Miller answered.

"I want to go to the hospital and wait on Simon."

"Alright dear, I think that would be a wonderful thing for him to wake up to."

"Sheesh, the most my boyfriend ever did for me was, get me clothes I wanted." Britney said, ever the drama queen, "You just happen to get the one guy who will take a bullet AND a rapist for you."

"Britney! Shut the hell up! Can't you see, Jeanettes obviously broken up over the whole thing, show a little compassion why don't you?" Eleanor chided harshly.

"Enough, Britney, Eleanor, go to bed while I drive Jeanette to the hospital, besides, I want you to get that bite looked at Jeanette." Miss Miller said with a note of finality. The conversation was over.

As they drove over to the hospital in silence, Jeanette still being in shock, they passed by the park and Jeanette watched as the now listless form of her attacker was loaded into the back of an ambulance for the state penitentiary. Though this scene was grim, Jeanette couldn't help but feel a sense of calm settle over her as she realized that he would never be able to hurt another girl for a long, long time where he was going.

When they finally arrived and checked in, they sat down in the OR waiting room across from Dave and Alvin, Theodore was in the cafeteria trying to eat his worries away. After 2 hours of waiting in total silence, the head surgeon came out and asked if they were Simon's immediate family.

"Yes, I'm his dad." Dave responded

"Well, the good news is that your son is now stable and the bullet has been removed."

"Well that's _**wonderful**_ doctor!"

"There is however, some bad news, it turns out that the bullet wound took a lot of blood and we _are _worried about possible infection, so we are going to keep him here for a couple of nights just in case. You are all of course welcome to stay here overnight or until he is awake. We'll send someone out to get you if he regains consciousness."

"Thank you _**so**_ much doctor." Dave replied, happily

"Doctor?" Jeanette asked, "Am I allowed to stay here overnight as well? I'm not exactly family but I was there when he was shot." Jeanette asked anxiously

"Well, normal hospital procedure is that only family is allowed to stay, but we'll need to make an exception here for you, after all, your mother said to keep an eye on you in case that bite acts up or the shock is too much when it finally gets through."

"Thank you doctor." Jeanette replied

"Well, we'll send someone when he wakes up."

"Good night sir" Dave said still smiling with the news that his son was going to be alright.

When the doctor left, Jeanette walked over to Dave and said, "Dave, I'm really sorry about what happened to Simon, if I was able to fight back then maybe,"

"You'd be dead." Dave finished, "Jeanette, I'm not mad at you for what happened, I'm just glad that both of you are alright."

"Besides," chipped in Alvin, "My brother all but killed that guy trying to protect you. If _**that**_ doesn't show you he cares and doesn't blame you, then I don't know what would."

As Jeanette sat there looking at the smiling faces of the Seville's, she felt a spring of emotions start to trickle back to life inside her. She excused herself and went to find Theodore and tell him the news. When Theo heard the news, he dropped his tray of food and hugged Jeanette close as he cried tears of joy into her shoulder.

"I need to go get some sleep now Theo" Jeanette said as she got up to leave.

"Ok then Jeanette, I'll see you in the morning." He replied happily and gave her another hug.

Jeanette found herself in the woods without any recollection as to how she actually got there. Feeling as if there was something important she had to do, she decided to start walking. As she walked, she looked up at the sky and gasped, where the sky should have been blue and white, she saw a blood red sky with black clouds. When she saw this, she started to run towards a light in the distance, thinking that there would be shelter. As she grew closer to the lights, she thought she heard something. When she stopped to make out what the noise was, the wind picked up and carried the sound farther so that she was able to hear perfectly what the ruckus was. What she heard was the sound of a man screaming.

As she rushed through the forest to help the screaming man, she saw that she was running right towards the tree house, the very place she had been not hours ago. Except this tree house wasn't fixed up, instead, it looked as if it had been 100 years since anyone set foot near it. All of a sudden, she saw a huddled shaking form outside the old door. This form was wailing at the top of its lungs but Jeanette couldn't make out what it was saying. Cautiously she approached the shrouded figure and tentatively asked if everything was alright. But as soon as she spoke, the figure stopped wailing.

Out of nowhere, the man turned around to reveal a weathered face as old as time itself, and it spoke.

"Why are you here?" it asked, "Can't you stupid kids leave a man to mourn in peace?"

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't know. If you don't mind me asking, what or who are you mourning?"

"I am mourning a death long since passed. I mourn for the other half of my heart; I mourn for she who meant the world to me." He answered cryptically.

"I'm sorry to hear that sir. How long ago did she die?" Jeanette asked innocently

"She died when I failed to protect her more than 60 years ago. This tree was going to be a surprise for her, she used to live here with her sisters when they were little girls, free from the taint and corruption of the world."

"Sir, I know that this is going to sound weird, but I used to live here." Jeanette stated, watching the old man for a reaction.

"That's impossible. The only people who lived here were the Chipettes." He said as his brow furrowed, "Young girl, what is your name?"

"My name is Jeanette Miller sir." She replied

"No, no you're not, I saw what happened all those years ago, you bear her resemblance and you share her name but you are not my Jeanie." And with that he turned his back to her.

"Wait sir," she said, finally recognizing what was so familiar about this man, "is your name Simon?" she asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Because I know you, we go out, you're supposed to be in the hospital recovering, you were shot protecting me, and you are certainly not old."

"No, no, that's not how it happened, _**you **_were shot and you died in the OR. I know, I helped bury you right over there." He said and pointed to a low sitting weathered stone with writing on it.

As Jeanette approached the stone, her heart rate shot up and her palms began to sweat, as she crouched to read the stone she looked back to where the old man was only to find him gone. By this point Jeanette just wanted to run away from this place and forget she had ever been here, but as if some invisible force pushed her head down she read…

**Here lie the mortal remains of**

**Simon Seville**

**Beloved singer, brother, and friend**

**April 20, 1991-March 31, 2010**

"**There is no point to living if everything that makes life worth it is gone"**

When Jeanette woke up in a cold sweat, she found herself back at the hospital. When Jeanette checked the clock, she found that she had been asleep for two hours in a hospital chair. When she finally drifted back to sleep, it was to the dreamless, contented sleep of peace.

The next time she woke up was because Theodore shook her awake.

"Wha…Theo? Why'd you wake me up?" asked Jeanette groggily.

"It's Simon, he's awake now and feeling much better. The doctor is going to let Dave, Alvin, and me go I first and when we're done Simon wants to see you." He explained.

"I figured I could give you a heads up so you could wash up if you wanted." He continued

Jeanette smiled up at the younger Chipmunk, "Why thank you Theo that was really thoughtful of you. Now stop wasting time and go see him." As she finished speaking Theodore beamed at her and ran off to see his brother.

"This gives me some time to at least look good for him when he sees me" she said to herself.

After Jeanette went to the bathroom and washed her face, she went back into the waiting room and sat down on the couch to read a copy of readers digest. After about an hour, the Seville's came back into the room and told her that Simon was ready to see he alone. Her heart pounded a tattoo into her chest as she walked up to the side of Simon's bed and stood there waiting for him to speak. When he sat up slowly, he turned to Jeanette and said, "Hey there Jeannie. Sorry about what happened, I really didn't want you to get hurt. If i had known that that creep was out there, I never would have brought you there tonight."

When Jeanette heard this she laughed.

"What's so funny Jeannie?" Simon asked, "Seriously Jeanette, you're freaking me out, what's so funny?"

"You!" she exclaimed, "You get shot and you're worried about something that you had no control over." she continued to laugh

As Simon thought about his situation, he too began to see the humor of it all, "Holy shit , you're right." he said as he too began to laugh.

"I still can't believe what you did to that guy while you had a bullet in your shoulder!" Jeanette said laughingly, "If I was Alvin I would never mess with you again."

At that statement, Simon smiled and replied, "Well to be honest, the only reason I think I was able to do that was because you were in trouble."

"Yeah, you're my knight in blue armor alright." she replied with a note of affection in her voice.

"And if you must know, you have definitely earned a reward for "Actions above and beyond the call of Boyfriend"" she said with a note of sarcasm

"Oh really," Simon asked in a suggestive tone, "and just what is my reward for taking out that punk my dear?"

"Well, Simon, I'll give you your real reward when you're feeling well again, until then, this small token will have to do." and so saying, she leaned over him and gave him a kiss.

"Now, get better so I can stop worrying about you and we can have fun again." she finished stressing the word fun.

"Will do babe." he replied with a huge grin.

Simon sat on the hill overlooking the High School he used to go to with his brothers and the Chipettes. Now, the only way he knew what anyone was doing was when they called from their schools. Alvin and Britney had both gotten into Julliard and Theodore and Eleanor both were going to culinary school out of state. Simon had decided to take a year off from school and think over his life and what he wanted to do, which was why he had decided to spend most of the year with Jeanette. The two of them had decided to rent an apartment in the outskirts of Hollywood to be near Jeanette's school and stay close to their homes.

As Simon looked up at the sky and thought back to what it had been like, in the six months since the incident in the park, Simon had gone back to the tree house and chilled out there when home life had become too much, Jeanette and he were still the only people who knew that that spot is where they shared their first serious kiss.

"Hey Simon!" Jeanette said, startling him out of his thoughts,"Hey, how is your shoulder?"

"It's fine Jeanette," she had asked him the same question for about five months now and he was beginning if it had anything to do with the surprise she kept telling him about, "seriously, this is the first day I haven't needed any pain killers."

"_**Really**_?!" she asked excitedly and yet alluringly at the same time. "Well, if you don't need the pain meds anymore then I guess I can finally give you your surprise."

"_**Finally**_! You've been torturing me with this surprise ever since I left the hospital." He complained, though secretly celebrating.

"Well if you want to see what it is then you'll have to come follow me." She said as she stood up and walked towards the park.

Simon got up and followed her off down the hill and into the woods. As they got deeper, he wondered if she knew where she was going. After about another five minutes, he asked her, "Hey Jeanette, where are we going?"

"We're taking the old trail up to the tree house." She said matter of factly.

"The Old Trail?" he asked confused, "But I thought the trail I fixed was the only way to the tree house."

"Of course not silly, how did you think my sisters and I used to get home? This is how we would walk to get home from school; the park trail was so we could go to your house."

"Oh…" he said feeling stupid for assuming that there was only one trail. "Well, can you at least tell me how much longer until we get there?"

"Hehehe, sweetie, if you really need to know, we're there." She smiled back, and sure enough, as she spoke, the dark shadow of the tree house loomed up out of the gloom of the forest, giving the air a warmer feeling.

When they reached the door, Jeanette turned to Simon and said, "Now, there are two parts to the surprise, the first is that I messed with the rooms so that we can live here and save on the rent we're paying at the apartment."

"Ok, but are you sure there was enough space for two rooms, otherwise, one of us is going to be sleeping on the couch and I have a feeling that it will be me."

"That's part two, there is still only _one_ bedroom and only _one_ bed, but neither of us is going to be sleeping on the couch." She replied with a seductive smile that Simon rarely saw.

"Oh…" he said, then as the true meaning behind her words sank in, "_**OH!!!**_ Seriously Jeannie? Are you really cool with that?" he asked apprehensively.

"Well, I was saying that, the second part of your surprise is inside, now get in here and close your eyes and follow me."

So Simon shut his eyes and grabbed Jeanette by the shoulders and followed her into the house and up the steps, then Jeanette stopped and slipped out of his grip and said, "Now, when I say open them, open them." Simon nodded his reply and waited, he heard what sounded like fabric being moved and after another minute Jeanette said to open his eyes. When he did, he saw that he was in the Chipettes old room that had been remodeled purple and blue, quite tastefully. Then his eyes fell on the bed, or rather who was _in_ the bed. Jeanette had changed into a very sexy negligee and was laying down on the comforter with a look of love mixed with in with her embarrassed expression, and her body, oh her body, there were no words to describe her perfect figure and curves that lay exposed for him.

"Simon, you know that I'm yours and I always have been. Now let me show you just how much you mean to me. Take me Simon."

Simon was too stunned to speak, but he walked slowly over to the bed and lay down next to her and started to kiss her more passionately than they had ever kissed before.

"_**Oh yes**_," Jeanette thought as Simon began to take full advantage of the situation, just like she wanted him to.

Before the pleasure overtook her she realized that this situation would have happened eventually, because they were made for each other, this joy was a long time coming.

THUS CONCLUDES

A LONG TIME COMING

BY MUSICALREADER

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Happy Reading


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